When using in-dwelling medical devices, a common problem is the relative non-biocompatibility of the device which may result in, for instance, inflammation, thrombus formation and/or protein fouling, i.e., precipitation and denaturization on the surface of the device. To ameliorate these and other after-effects biobeneficial materials that present a surface that is more in tune with the natural surroundings at the site of device incorporation and thereby lessen a patient's normal foreign body response are often included on the outermost surface of the device, be it the bare device or a coating thereon. Being at the outermost level of the device, however, virtually insures that the biobeneficial material will elute from, be washed or abraded off of or otherwise will be removed from the outer surface of the device. To avoid such result, it is desirable to chemically attach the biobeneficial material to the outer surface of the device such that it cannot be physically removed, at least not without extraordinary effort that would essentially result in the destruction of the coating on the device.
One means of accomplishing the bonding of the biobeneficial material to the outer surface of a device is to photochemically create a covalent bond between the material and the surface. A commercial means for effecting such bonding is SurModics' Photolink® technology. Photolink® is used to conjugate surface active molecules to the outermost surface of medical devices. A photolyzable group is chemically conjugated to the material of interest, the conjugate is applied to the surface, which must include an abstractable hydrogen atom, and the device is subjected to UV or visible radiation. The radiation initiates a cascade of events that ultimately results in the formation of a covalent bond between the photolyzable group and the device surface. Since the biobeneficial material is in turn also covalently bonded to the photolyzable group, the result is that the material is securely attached to the surface of the device where it can then carry out its intended purpose in vivo without fear of its being lost from the surface of the device.
A problem arises, however, when the technique is to be applied to a drug-eluting stent or other such drug-containing device in that many drugs are photosensitive to the same radiation used to carry out the photolytic reaction between the material and the surface of the device. This photosensitivity may result in the degradation or inactivation of the drug rendering the device useless as a means of drug delivery.
What is needed is a method of protecting radiation sensitive drugs during the formation of the links between a biobeneficial material and the surface of a drug-carrying device. The current invention provides such a method.